Good evening. My name is Arthur Purves. This evening I address you as president of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance.

The difference between the Virginia Board of Education and the Fairfax County School Board is that the Virginia Board of Education fights for higher standards while the Fairfax County School Board fights for higher taxes.

Over the last twenty years, while inflation increased 200%, Fairfax County per-capita taxes increased 380% and per-student spending in Fairfax County Public Schools increased 465%. Over the same period, standardized test scores remained at the 71st percentile. SAT scores did increase, but only from the 57th to the 65th percentile. The County's average score on College Board achievement tests is only at the 50th percentile.

The Fairfax County School Board's Legislative Program requests independent taxing authority, a new county income tax, and a higher sales tax. Last July, a committee appointed by the school board recommended increasing county taxes by another $55 million.

The school board's plan for raising academic standards is the Fairfax Framework for Student Success. However, page 5 of the Fairfax Framework report states, "The higher standards that the Framework supports will not, by themselves, raise student achievement . . ." Why have higher taxes and higher standards if they do not raise student achievement?

Moreover, academic achievement is not the goal of the Fairfax County school administration. As the principal of Oakton High School stated in Oakton's May, 1994, PTA newsletter, "The institution known as 'school' is no longer the place where American youth become educated but rather the place where American youth become socialized. Education is just one facet of socialization."

The schools' May, 1996, Professional/Technical Studies Implementation Committee report states that current school goals are to teach:

Ô Understanding Self and Others

Ô Exploring Occupations

Ô Making Decisions

Ô Acquiring Work Skills

Ô Planning for Life

These vague and unmeasurable goals are Outcome-Based Education (OBE). OBE supporters claim that the new Virginia accreditation tests do not evaluate students' ability to think but only to memorize facts. These critics also fear that schools with diverse enrollment will do poorly. However critical thinking requires factual knowledge. Low-performing schools would raise achievement if they taught basic skills, such as phonics-based reading, and required more drill. Critics of the new tests want to preserve the current, meaningless, standards, which totally ignore test scores. They know that if test scores were a basis of accreditation, some Fairfax County high schools risk losing their accreditation.

The Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance opposes the Fairfax County School Board's plan for high taxes and low standards. However, we support the governor's plan for low taxes and high standards.

Thank you.